Greg Burton, executive editor of the Desert Sun in Palm Springs and a regional editor for the USA TODAY Network, on Monday was named executive editor of The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, a 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning newsroom and western flagship for the network.

In Palm Springs, Burton built one of the best newsrooms in California, winning national awards for public service and investigative reporting, Emmys for digital storytelling and an Edward R. Murrow award for a video project on criminal-justice reform.

"The Republic is vital to the people of Arizona and has served as a model for transformation in media," said Burton, 54. "I’m honored to join a team whose dedication to watchdog reporting and innovation has made it one of America’s great newsrooms."

CLOSE

Greg Burton, executive editor of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs and a regional editor for the USA TODAY Network, was named executive editor of The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, a 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning newsroom.

Burton described his new role in Phoenix as a liaison among community leaders, the community at large and the newsroom. "I'll do a lot of listening and have a lot of conversations, so we can provide the information people need to make the right decisions."

He vowed The Republic will remain laser-focused on key issues, from education to politics.

Under Burton, the Desert Sun’s investigation of cozy land deals and secret consulting contracts led to bribery and corruption charges against the mayor of Palm Springs and two major developers and a nod by the district attorney, who credited the reporting for launching his investigation and a raid by the FBI that shut down City Hall.

'The perfect person' to lead The Republic

In Phoenix, Burton will lead a highly regarded newsroom, two-time Pulitzer finalist and Pulitzer winner in 2018 for The Wall, a landmark multimedia project that explores the U.S.-Mexico border and President Trump’s promise to build “a great wall.” Burton was one of several editors who contributed to the border series, which was produced by The Arizona Republic and USA TODAY Network.

Burton described The Republic as a "vibrant, healthy and successful newsroom," noting the recent Pulitzer Prize and other accolades. He said the newspaper's role and that of azcentral.com is critical in support of democracy at a time when the nation, and Arizona, are undergoing an important period of self-analysis.

Greg Burton, the new executive editor of The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, talks with The Republic newsroom on April 23, 2018.(Photo: Mark Henle/The Republic)

"Greg is the perfect person to take leadership of The Arizona Republic at this time," said Randy Lovely, vice president/community news for the USA TODAY Network. "He is committed to quality journalism, passionate about serving the community and knowledgeable about the issues particular to the desert Southwest."

In his role, Lovely oversees the 109 newsrooms owned by Gannett. He previously served as the top news executive in Phoenix from 2008 until 2016. He said: "I can't think of a better person to work with the talented team in Phoenix, and I'm confident Greg will build on the success and achieve even greater results in the future."

“The Arizona Republic is successful because it prioritizes investigative journalism and innovative engagement,” Burton said. “We must lead with watchdog. We must embrace change. We need to grow where our audiences are growing, and we need to reflect Arizona and its diverse communities.”

Starting out

Burton was born in Indiana and spent his youth there and in Washington state. He graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in journalism.

After an internship at the Lewiston (Idaho) Tribune, Burton began his reporting career at a small newspaper in Idaho, writing about local government and the environment during a period of upheaval over logging and mining, spotted owl protections and wilderness designations for old-growth forests and wild and scenic rivers.

In 1997, he joined the Salt Lake Tribune. As a reporter and editor in Utah, he exposed the practice of forced incest and child abuse within polygamous clans and led projects on the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park and the battle over nuclear-waste storage and Yucca Mountain.

Before the 2002 Winter Olympics, he uncovered secret gifts to the International Olympic Committee and helped chronicle the emergence of Mitt Romney as a national figure in the aftermath of the Olympic bribery scandal.

“As a journalist, I have worked in Arizona, just north of the Arizona border in Utah and just west of the Arizona border in California,” Burton said. “I spent weeks reporting from the Four Corners wilderness during a search for Y2K cop killers on the Navajo Reservation. I wrote a series of stories about polygamy, often from the dirt streets of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona. These forays gave me an appreciation of Arizona, its people and its politics.”

Beginning in 2004, he was metro editor and then assistant manager editor at the (Wilmington, Delaware) News Journal, leading investigations of the prison system and state mental hospital that exposed systemic physical abuses and inadequate medical care, prompting sanctions by the U.S. Justice Department’s civil-rights division.

The newsroom won the Associated Press Media Editors highest honor for public service in 2010 for a series of stories about a pedophile pediatrician that compelled lawmakers in a matter of months to pass 10 new laws opening records of medical discipline to police.

Randy Lovely (left), vice president/community news of the USA TODAY Network, introduces Greg Burton as the new executive editor of The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com on April 23, 2018.(Photo: Mark Henle/The Republic)

Successes in Palm Springs

In 2011, he moved to California after leading the Delaware newsroom to an Emmy for its coverage of Joe Biden’s campaign, first for the presidency and then as Barack Obama’s pick to serve as vice president. After the campaign, Burton edited “Joe’s Journey: Biden’s Rise to Vice President,” published by the News Journal.

Since Burton took the helm in Palm Springs, the Desert Sun has been recognized five times in seven years as the top newsroom of its size in California.

Desert Sun journalists have won Stanford University’s Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism and the Online News Association’s pro-am award with the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for a project on the demise of the Salton Sea that combined augmented reality and 360-video with narrative storytelling.

The Associated Press Media Editors and Society of Business Editors and Writers have recognized the Desert Sun multiple times for reporting about high accidental death rates for Marines, the predicament of tribal lease lands and efforts to expand the Western power grid from California to coal-producing states like Wyoming.

Since 2016, Burton has supervised nine newsrooms in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Guam. In 2017, he served as a nominating juror for the Pulitzer Prizes. He is a member of USA TODAY’s ethics and standards committee and leads the network’s environment team.

Burton's wife, Kyla, is an elementary school teacher. The couple have two children.

His daughter, Adria, is a high school valedictorian who will be headed to Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. His son, Blake, attends Willamette University in Oregon. Burton likes to hike during his free time.

While Burton steps into the top newsroom role, the business side of the Phoenix operation will be led by two veteran executives. Anthony Bratti will serve as president of Republic Media and Terry Horne as vice president of local sales.